


Adventures in Parenting

by swanqueenfic13



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, de-age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-13 20:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5716435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanqueenfic13/pseuds/swanqueenfic13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Could you do a fic where somehow Emma gets to see - and maybe interact with - Regina as a toddler?" ~LemongrassAndSleep</p><p> </p><p>Why yes, yes I can. This will probably be a few chapters, but nothing major. Not sure if it'll be OTP or BroTP because Emma will be taking on a parental role to Regina, but we'll see!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Foundling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LemongrassAndSleep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemongrassAndSleep/gifts).



“Stupid snow storms,” Emma growls to herself. She’s hunched over the steering wheel, heat blasting, wearing three layers of thermal clothing and her thick Sheriff’s jacket, along with two hats, a pair of thick gloves, and boots. And she’s still freezing. “Why couldn’t Regina have cursed everyone to somewhere warmer? Like Florida. Or even just, like, Maryland. Not Maine. Where there’s all these stupid snow storms,” she continues grumbling. Normally, she and David would draw straws for who was on storm duty, but since he was dealing with her new baby brother, Emma was stuck driving in the snow to field all the calls. Currently, she was going out to answer a call from Michael Zimmer down by the trailhead.

“Sheriff!” he called as soon as she pulled up. He was sitting in his truck, snow plow attached. He waves, meeting her over by her car. Emma has to squint to see where the trail began.

“What’s up?” she asks, shivering already.

“There’s a kid out here,” he shouts to be heard over the roaring wind. He points out towards the woods, and she sees a small, dark figure huddled on the ground. She had originally thought it was some tree, or something.

“Why the hell didn’t you get it into somewhere warm?” Emma shouts, rushing over there, struggling in the thick snow.

“She freaked out, wouldn’t let me. I’ve got some blankets in my truck.”

“Do you know who it is?” He just shrugs and goes back to get the blankets. “Call for an ambulance. We might need help if she’s hypothermic, or something.” She then slowly approaches to find the little girl. The girls is crouched on the ground, having taken shelter behind a bush so that the wind was less harsh. Her head was buried in her knees, so all Emma could see was dark brown, thick curls, and tanned skin. She was wearing only a white button down shirt, like someone had just given her an old t-shirt and sent her on her way. “Hey, kid, you okay down there? My name’s Emma,” Emma calls. The girl squeals and scoots as far away from Emma as possible, leaning into the bush. The branches shake and a pile of snow falls on her.

“Look kid, it’s cold out. Come on, you’re all wet,” Emma tries again. The girl shakes her head, and Emma can see her shoulders shaking as if she’s crying. “Listen, little one, I’m gonna pick you up. I’m sorry, but it’s too cold out here.” Emma lunges forward,struggling to get a grip on the girl. She feels the child’s body go limp, and cradles her close to her chest, her skin like ice. “Thanks,” she mumbles as Michael gives her a blanket, draping it around the girl.

“Ambulance engine won’t turn over. Might be faster to just go,” he shouts. Emma nods, going back toward her car. When she puts the girl on the seat to wrap her up in more blankets, she finally gets a look at the girl’s face, and her deep brown eyes. Eyes Emma knew very well.

“Regina?” she murmurs. The poor girl, her lips blue from the cold, turns to look at Emma, her eyes welling with tears. “Oh, what the hell,” Emma groans. The mini Regina coughs, and starts sobbing. 

 

“You okay back there, kid?” Emma asks, glancing back at Regina in the rearview mirror, having finally calmed her down. She wrapped her in five blankets before buckling her in. Regina’s eyes were wide, staring at every passing object with great confusion, but she didn’t speak. With the heat so high, Regina was starting to return to normal. Finally, Emma pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, and went to bring Regina inside.

“No!” Regina shrieks, seeing the hustle and bustle just inside the door. A nurse comes out to check on them.

“Hey, hey, kid, you’ll be okay. It’s warm in there, and they have snacks, and they just need to make sure you’re okay,” Emma explains quickly, trying to keep a grip on Regina as she squirms.

“No, want mama!” she shrieks, kicking Emma through the layers of blankets.

“Alright, alright, no hospital,” Emma sighs, putting Regina back into the car. She beckons the nurse over. “How do I treat mild hypothermia, and how do I know if it gets worse?” she mumbles, taking out her phone to take notes.

 

“Emma, something must be wrong with the phone line. Did you just say you found a baby Regina?” Snow shouts through the phone. Emma holds it away from her ear, looking into the backseat where Regina sits. The snow storm had stopped, and Emma was trying to figure out what to do with Regina. She had gone to the mansion, empty since Henry had been at Nick and Ava’s when the storm hit. Regina and Emma had advised him to stay there until it passed. But Regina refused to get out of the car until she saw her mother.

“No, the phone’s fine. But she won’t get out of the car, and I need to dry her off and get her warmed up. How do you deal with a kid throwing a tantrum?” she sighs. 

“Okay, I’m going to need you to explain all of this from the top,” her mother says slowly. 

“I will later. But how do I get her out of the car?”

“Pick her up.”

“Just-”

“Just pick her up. I think. I mean, if you have to get her inside for her own safety and health, just do it,” her mother says, though she sounds a little uncertain. 

“Um, okay, mom. I’ll try that. I’ll call you back. Bye,” she says.

“Mama?” Regina asks hopefully, sitting up in the back. Emma bites the inside of her cheek.

“My mama, not yours, kid,” she sighs, and it’s painful to watch Regina’s face fall. “Come on, let’s go inside and get you warm.” She stands, going around to the back seat. Regina scoots away from her, so Emma opens both back doors.

“Not until mama!” Regina protests, sitting directly in the middle of the car. But she is laden down with the blankets from Michael’s car, and still stiff from the cold, so Emma can grab her and scoop her up, roll her up like a burrito in the blankets, and hold her to her chest, running into the house. Thankfully, Regina gave her a key for emergencies. She runs up the stairs and goes into the first bedroom she sees. It’s large, opulent, and impeccably clean. Emma assumes it must be Regina’s. She kicks the door closed before putting Regina on the floor. Regina just flops down, laying on her back, staring at the ceiling, expression blank, her eyes slowly filling with tears.

“Hey, kid, let’s get you out of those wet clothes and into something dry, okay?” Emma whispers, kneeling down next to her to wipe a stray tear. “Then we’ll try and find your mama.”

“No,” Regina whimpers. “Don’t… wanna be here. Want mama,” she whispers sadly, her lower lip trembling. She squirms until the blankets fall away, and she stands, left only in the white blouse, which Emma now recognizes as one of adult Regina’s silk blouses, soaking wet from the snow. Emma reaches out for her hand, but catches the cold sleeve, pulling Regina closer with it.

“Mama wants you to be warm, and dry. Can I help?” Hesitantly, Regina stares her up and down before nodding, letting Emma pull off the wet shirt, leaving her standing naked in the cold air. She shivers, so Emma grabs a blanket, wrapping her in it to pick her up and bring her to the bathroom. She’ll deal with the mess later.

Once she’s towelled Regina off, she realizes she has no clothes for her. Regina had started giving Emma magic lessons, but she wasn’t very good at creating stuff, not like Regina was. She takes a slow, deep breath while Regina watches curiously, yawning, and pictures a thick, warm pair of kid’s pajamas. She imagines footed pajamas, light purple with a picture of a little white kitten on the front, and a plain zipper going all the way up. With a little push of her will, she holds out her hand and opens her eyes, pleased to see the exact outfit sitting on her hand.

“Not bad, huh kid?” she grins, only to find Regina’s eyes wide, and fearful. “You don’t like magic?” she asks. Regina shakes her head nervously. “Huh,” she murmurs. She puts the pajamas down and scoots closer to talk to Regina, who is now biting her thumbnail. “Magic isn’t scary, okay? But I’ll try not to use it if it makes you feel better, okay?” Regina nods, taking the thumb from her mouth. “Can we put on your pajamas?” Regina tilts her head, but nods. Emma puts her hand behind her back again to poof up a pull-up for Regina, just in case. Regina makes a face as Emma helps her pull it on, but smiles at the feel of the pajamas. Now dressed, Regina yawns, and still shivers. Emma grabs a fresh blanket from Regina’s bed and picks up Regina, wrapping her up in it. Regina rests her head on Emma’s shoulder, subtly sucking her thumb.

“You thirsty, sweet girl?” Emma whispers. “We can make some hot chocolate.”

“What’s that?” Regina mumbles around her thumb. Emma is almost offended that her chosen winter drink didn’t exist in the Enchanted Forest.

“It’s delicious. Do you like chocolate?” Regina hums her agreement. “Then you’ll love it. Come on.”

 

“What’s that?” Regina gasps in wonderment. Emma resists the urge to groan. Upon discovering the magic of electricity in the kitchen, Regina had tiptoed around the entire room, pointing to everything to find out what it is. 

“That’s a light switch, babe. It turns on the light.”

“What’s that?”

“A microwave. Heats up food. Hey, your hot chocolate’s done. Come here and drink it with me.” Emma brings Regina onto her lap, glad to have found a small water bottled with a spout on top, probably a remnant from Henry’s childhood judging by the faded trains on the side. Emma checks her phone while Regina sips the hot chocolate happily. 

“What’s that?” she asks, pointing to the phone.

“Um, it’s called a phone. It lets me talk to people who aren’t here. And I can take pictures. See? Look.” Emma turns on the camera. Regina gasps, seeing her own face on the screen. She scowls.

“It taked me!” she protests. Emma smirks, snapping a picture of baby Regina’s scowl, so like that of her older self, before explaining to Regina.

“No, it took a picture. You know, uh, paintings? Do you have paintings at home? This is like a painting, just faster.” Regina nods and Emma goes back to googling parenting tips for getting a kid down for a nap. Regina seems exhausted, and is nodding off on Emma’s lap. Once she drops the sippy cup, Emma stands, resolving to pick it up once Regina is asleep.

“Nap time, little one.”

“Mama says I too old for naps,” Regina protests, unable to stifle her yawn. She blinks sleepily as Emma chuckles.

“Well, I say you’re very tired. How old are you?”

“Free,” Regina proclaims, proudly showing three fingers.

“Wow, three years old? You are a big girl.” Emma brings her to the master bedroom and lays her down in the center. Regina pouts as she starts to walk away. “What’s up?” Emma asks, coming to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Nothing,” Regina sighs. Emma levels her gaze, and Regina squirms before admitting quietly, “Nanny always sings to me before bed. Even though mama says I’m too big for that.” Emma smiles softly.

“I’m probably not as good a singer as your nanny, but I’ll try, okay? What song did Nanny sing to you?”

“The Ladies of the Manor!” Emma bites her lip.

“I don’t know that one, little one. How about I sing you a different one?” Regina nods, so Emma clears her throat. “ _ Rock-a-bye baby _ -”

“I not a baby!” Regina protests.

“I know, little one, it’s just the way the song goes. Should I sing a different one?”

“No, it’s okay,” Regina mumbles, rubbing her eye with her fist. Emma lays down next to her on the bed and continues singing.

“ _ Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop. When the wind blows, your cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come baby cradle and all. _ ” Emma turns to glance at Regina to find her still awake, but struggling. Emma sits up a little bit, leaning on the headboard, and pulls Regina onto her chest. She plays with her hair as she begins to sing the song again, repeating it until she feels Regina’s breathing slow as she falls asleep. “Good night, my sweet girl,” Emma whispers, kissing her hair as she shifts her back into the bed. She tucks her in with an extra blanket before going back downstairs.

 

“So, you just found her in the woods? Alone, practically naked, cold, and three years old?” her dad asks. Emma had called both of her parents on speakerphone as she went around the house, cleaning up all of the messes she had made. She started with the wet clothes and blankets, and was currently loading the washing machine with them.

“Well, she was at the trailhead, not in the woods, but other than that? Yeah,” Emma clarifies, turning on the machine and continuing to the kitchen to clean the dishes she used, and make herself a snack.

“How did that happen?” her mother chimes in. 

“Well, I’ll take her to Gold tomorrow. Or maybe the fairies. Someone has to know how to fix this.”

“Oh, of course. I just wonder how she got out there by herself.”

“Magic?” Emma asks. “I mean, she may be little, but she probably still has some.” She hears Neal cry in the background. “Alright, I’ll let you guys go handle him. I’m at 108 Mifflin, right now. Henry is at the Zimmers’ so I guess I should call him and update him. But, uh, before I go. What do I do with a toddler?” She hears her mother laugh, and Neal wails louder.

“Ask the internet, honey. Neal’s still just a baby, so I don’t really know,” she explains. “I have to go. Love you!”

“Bye mom.”

“Alright, Em, if you need any help just call, okay? I’m gonna go help your mom with your brother. Bye kid, love you.”

“Bye dad,” Emma sighs, hanging up the phone. She goes back to her snack.

 

An hour later, Emma hears the crying. 

She had just settled onto the couch in the living room after putting the blankets into the dryer. For a moment, she hesitated.  _ What do I do _ ? she thought. But when she heard the whimpers grow in urgency, she sprints up the stairs, remembering all the nights she woke up in foster homes, crying, wishing someone would come hold her. She finds Regina curled up in the bed, kicking out and crying softly.

“Hey, hey, little one, wake up,” Emma whispers, scooping Emma up. She cradles her like a baby as Regina jerks awake, panicking for a moment.

“Where’s Nanny?” she moans.

“Sorry, sweet girl. Just me. Did you have a bad dream?” Regina shrinks in on herself, squirming to get out of Emma’s grasp. Emma lets her back down onto the bed.

“I’ll be good. I go back to sleep, now,” she sniffs, crawling under the covers. Emma pulls them back.

“You don’t have to go back to bed if you had a bad dream. We can go downstairs. Did you have a bad dream?” Regina hugs her stomach, tucking her chin into her chest. “You can tell me.”

“Mama says big girls don’t have bad dreams,” she mumbles.

“Everyone has bad dreams,” Emma scoffs. She takes on a gentler tone, leaning down closer to Regina. “It helps to talk about it, you know.” Regina just shakes her head. “Wanna go downstairs then? We can play.” Regina tilts her head.

“You’re not a lady. Mama says ladies don’t play.” Emma throws her head back laughing.

“I’m a princess,” Emma informs her, picking Regina up, hitching her onto her hip as she walks towards the stairs. Regina gasps.

“A princess?” she asks, her eyes widening. “What kingdom?” Emma falters.

“Uh… You know King Leopold?” Regina nods fervently. “That kingdom.”

“Wow. What’s your name, princess?”

“Emma, remember?”

“Princess Emma,” Regina corrects her gently.

“No. Just Emma.” Regina gasps.

“Mama says to call ladies by their title! Nanny says, too!” Emma collapses on the couch and Regina looks around in wonder, momentarily distracted from the titles debacle. “What’s that?” she asks, pointing to the TV.

“A wonderful, wonderful thing,” Emma grins, grabbing the remote and turning it on. Regina shrieks when she sees the screen come to life, people moving around, and arguing. She leaps off of Emma’s lap and hides behind the couch. “Hey, sweet girl, what’s wrong?” Emma asks, going to kneel next to her.

“Who trapped the people?” she whispers, hugging her knees to her chest, biting her lower lip. Emma has to resist the urge to laugh.

“No one trapped the people. Look, come here. It’s not magic, I promise.” Regina hesitates, pouting at Emma. Emma smirks and holds out a hand. “Just come peek around the edge of the couch. Nothing bad will happen.” Regina crawls over next to Emma, poking her head out to look at the television.

“Look, those people got trapped,” Regina whispers, pointing to the still-arguing doctors on the TV, characters from Emma’s favorite show  _ Grey’s Anatomy _ . 

“No, no, no, sweet girl,” Emma chuckles. “It’s called television. It’s like… remember the camera I showed you earlier? It takes pictures like instant portraits?” Regina nods. “These are like that. But it moves. So, moving, instant portraits,” Emma shrugs, a little confused by her description, but Regina seems to accept this, and slowly crawls from behind the couch. Suddenly, as if realizing she was crawling, she stood up straight and walked to the couch. “Does Mama say that ladies can’t crawl?” Emma asks from her spot on the ground. Regina just nods. To make a point, Emma crawls over to sit on the floor in front of Regina.

“Princess Emma,” Regina giggles. “You’re silly.”

“Name’s Emma, not Princess,” Emma corrects.

“But Mama says-” Regina starts.

“I know what Mama says. But Mama isn’t here, so  _ I _ say you can call me Emma. Just Emma.” Regina pouts for a minute.

“Okay Emma,” she sighs. “What’s that?” she asks, pointing to the stereo. Emma smiles and walks around the house with her, explaining what everything is.

 

“Emma, I’m hungry,” Regina whines. Emma bites her lip, looking in all the cupboards. As she expected, Regina doesn’t keep anything ready-made in the house, just ingredients. And Emma isn’t a great cook. She can handle grilled cheese, kind of, and some other simple things. She glances out the window, glad to see that the snow had stopped, and it looked like the plows had been around. Some kids were even starting to play in the snow.

“I know, kid. Let me make a call,” she sighs, standing by the window as she pulls out her phone and calls for the diner.

“Granny’s Diner, how can I-”

“Hey, Emma Swan, are you open? Please tell me you’re open,” Emma interrupts.

“Okay, don’t be rude,” the voice on the other line snaps. Emma rolls her eyes. “Second, we’re not open, but for you, I’ll make a grilled cheese.”

“Thanks Rubes, but I might need a bit more than that,” Emma winces.

“What do you mean? Got a big appetite tonight?” Ruby teases. 

“Can I explain when I come in?”

“Sure. The door will have the closed sign, but I’ll leave a light on around back. Just come right in and find me in the inn. And be careful, huh? It’s still slippery out."

“Yes ma’am,” Emma sighs. She hangs up the phone and turns to find Regina, still in her footed pajamas, standing behind her in the middle of the kitchen, clutching her cup to her chest with one hand, the other thumb firmly in her mouth. “Alright kid, we’re going on an adventure.”


	2. Mother Hen and the Big Bad Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because we do need a little bit of plot development

“Emma, I can’t move,” Regina complains from the back seat. Emma smiles to herself. After digging through Regina’s basement to find some of Henry’s old snow gear, she put Regina in black boots and an overlarge snow coat and hat before bundling her in two blankets and buckling her into the back seat. She didn’t have a car seat, so immobilising Regina with blankets would have to do for now.

“It’s a quick ride, kiddo. What do you want to eat?” Emma drives carefully on the snowy roads, even though it had been clear that a snow plow truck had come through here.

“What are you having?” Regina asks curiously. Emma wonders if it was part of her manners instilled in her, or if she was just unsure about what kinds of foods they had in this strange new land.

“Well, I like grilled cheese, and french fries, and onion rings. And cheeseburgers. How about you?”

“You have strange foods,” Regina says with a wrinkle of her nose. 

“Do you like soup? Or fruit?” Emma pulls into the back parking lot behind Granny’s. Regina nods, squirming in the cocoon of blankets. “Let’s go, munchkin. Let’s get something to eat.” Emma carries her to the back door of the diner, knocking on it with her boot before shouldering it open, carefully maintaining her grip on Regina.

“Be there in a sec, Em!” Ruby calls.

“Alright, Gina, come here. Let’s unwrap these blankets,” Emma mumbles, setting Regina on the floor, and folding the blankets as she unwraps them.

“Who the hell…?” Ruby exclaims, walking into the diner in a pair of thick gray sweatpants and a red t-shirt, and a pair of worn out slippers. Emma puts the blankets on the nearest table and picks Regina up, balancing her on her hip. She pulls her hat off and smiles at Ruby.

“Ruby, this is Regina. Regina, this is my friend Ruby. She’s going to make us dinner.” Regina squirms until Emma puts her down. She curtsies, using her coat as a dress as she smiles toothily at Ruby.

“Lady Ruby,” Regina mumbles.

“Just Ruby, kid. I was a peasant, not a lady. Great curtsy though, nice form,” Ruby compliments. Regina pouts and Emma unzips her coat, as Ruby grabs a plastic booster seat and some coloring pages. “Cute pajamas, Regina. Can I get you set up so the grown ups can talk for a minute?” Ruby puts the gray booster seat in a booth and lets Emma strap her in before setting down the pages and some crayons. “You know how to color, right cutie?” Regina nods, but doesn’t touch the crayons.

“What does mama say about coloring?” Emma whispers, leaning in to Regina. Regina bites her lip.

“Not a baby anymore,” she mumbles sleepily, rubbing her eye.

“No one’s saying you are. When I come back, I’ll color with you, okay? You just sit here for now, and I’ll get you some food. You like soup?” Regina nods. “Alright sweet girl, I’ll be right back.” She ruffles Regina’s hair before going behind the counter with Ruby.

“What the fuck?” Ruby whispers. “Is that, like,  _ our _ Regina? Where did she come from?”

“I got a call that she was out near the trailhead! And yes, she is our Regina. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but she is. And she needs something to eat, something that wouldn’t freak out a kid from your world,” Emma explains.

“It’s eight o’clock at night. A kid her age should be bathed, and in bed by now. And she should have had dinner over an hour ago, Emma,” Ruby scolds gently.

“We had a weird afternoon! I found her, got her warmed up, put her down for a nap by around 3. When she woke up, she wasn’t hungry and we just hung out until a little while ago! My apologies for not being familiar with the schedule for a three year old!” Emma protests defensively.

“She’s really three?” Ruby sighs. “You think living here would raise my expectations for weirdness, but nope.” Emma chuckles. “So, like, did you have to change her diaper or something? That’d be weird.” Emma cants her head.

“No, I haven’t had to do that yet. Didn’t really think of that,” Emma mumbles.

“Hey, Regina, you like warm milk and strawberries?” Ruby calls. Regina nods eagerly as Emma wrinkles her nose. Regina hastily shakes her head no.

“Yes or no?” Ruby asks curiously, glancing at Emma. She stands in front of Emma, blocking Regina’s view. “That was my favorite bedtime snack when I was your age. I figured I could make some soup, then have the strawberries and warm milk. Hmm?” she asks, grinning. Regina squirms, stretching as if to try and see Emma. Finally, she nods shyly. “And you, Em?”

“I’ll just have some soup,” Emma says.

“And a grilled cheese, and onion rings,” Ruby finishes.

“But no warm milk for me,” she whispers.

“What?! But it’s so rich, and nice, and comforting!” Ruby protests.

“I like my milk cold,” Emma shrugs.

“Baby,” Ruby mutters. Emma rolls her eyes, sticking out her tongue childishly before going back to the table and coloring with Regina.

 

While they’re eating, Regina starts to nod off, but warms up to Ruby. Emma takes this as an opportunity to get some help.

“Hey, Gina, you mind if Ruby sits with you while I go make a phone call? You guys can have your strawberries and milk thing,” she offers.

“Mm’tay,” she mumbles, rubbing her eye with a fist.

“We’ll go home soon, munchkin,” Emma promises, stepping away to the back hallway.

“What can I do for the Sheriff?” Gold asks. Emma rolls her eyes.

“I have a problem.”

“Care to elaborate?” he asks. 

“Regina is three years old.”

“Ah.”

“Do you know how that could have happened? Or how we can fix it?”

“Of course I know how it happened. I did it.” Emma splutters angrily.

“What? What the fuck did you do, Gold?” she hisses.

“Well, all that energy leftover from Zelena’s attempt at a time portal didn’t just  _ disappear _ , dearie,” he simpers. 

“So you turned her into a toddler?”

“It had started to rip at the very fabric of time. I had to put it  _ somewhere _ ,” he scoffs. “Besides, she’s much more agreeable at this age.”

“That’s not- you can’t just- ARGH!” Emma growls. She forces herself to take a deep breath. “That is not the point,” she barks in a clipped tone. “You can’t just use magic to make her a child! And I don’t  _ care _ if it had to go somewhere. Put it in a tree. Or a rock. Or an old dog, or something! Not in  _ her! _ ”

“Didn’t occur to me to do that,” he says, and Emma can picture his smirk, his helpless little shrug. She is glad she’s not in front of him. She might have tried to kill him, whether she had the dagger or not.

“So you won’t help me get her back?” Emma sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.

“Not sure it can be done, dearie. Even if you find a way, all magic-”

“Comes with a price. Yeah, yeah, I get it ya jackass. Go practice some dark magic, or whatever,” Emma grumbles, hanging up on him.

 

“Try not to yell so loud next time,” Ruby scolds when Emma comes back in, kneeling next to the table. Emma doesn’t see Regina. 

“Under the table?” Emma groans.

“She doesn’t like it when you yell,” Ruby informs her.

“Munchkin,” Emma says softly, sitting on the table, looking at Regina, curled in a ball in the back corner of the booth. Emma couldn’t reach her unless she crawled under the table. “I’m sorry I yelled. I wasn’t yelling at you.”

“Don’t-like-yelling,” Regina says, her voice stilted and thick, as if she was crying.

“Oh, Regina, my sweet girl,” Emma breathes. “I’m not angry at you. I was just a little mad at the person I was talking to. But I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Mama- yells,” Regina gasps. “Hearts,” she adds.

“Sweet girl, I don’t do that. I don’t- I don’t take people’s hearts when I get angry,” Emma whispers. Regina shivers. Emma wonders how many people Regina watched lose their hearts. “Come here, sweet girl. I want to give you a hug.” Regina crawls out, and when Emma hugs her close, she feels how hard the little girl is trembling.

“Wanna go home,” she mutters, sniffling in Emma’s ear.

“Okay, munchkin. Okay,” Emma whispers, rubbing her back. “Can I put you down to put your coat on?” Regina shakes her head vigorously.

“I’ll drive you guys home, Em,” Ruby whispers. Emma nods, taking her blankets, letting Ruby carry the keys, their coats and hats, and leading the girls out to the car. Emma crawls into the backseat with Regina, buckling the seat belt around both of them. Ruby drives slow.

 

An hour later, when Regina has fallen asleep and Emma has taken her own shower, she goes back downstairs to find Ruby, almost ready to leave.

“Hey, you’re not going anywhere,” Emma protests. “I can’t drive, and it’s too cold, and too dark for you to walk home.”

“I’ve walked home when it’s later, and colder,” Ruby reminds her.

“Don’t care. Grab a blanket, you’re staying on the couch,” Emma orders. Ruby rolls her eyes, but takes her coat off. 

“How was she?” Ruby asks quietly, following Emma to the living room where they collapse on a couch.

“Apparently, she had been sitting in a dirty diaper because she didn’t want to have to ask me for help.”

“Ew,” Ruby says, wrinkling her nose.

“The more I learn about her, the more I realize her childhood sucked,” Emma says, breathing out slowly. “She used to actually  _ see _ Cora rip people’s hearts out! What the heck must that do to a kid?”

“That sucks. So, Gold won’t help?” Ruby sighs. It takes Emma a moment to remember her wolf hearing.

“Yeah, he’s not even sure it can be undone,” Emma moans. “How do I do this? I don’t know how to take care of a kid! I barely know how to take care of myself! Or Henry! And he’s an  _ easy _ kid!”

“Take it one step at a time, Em. Get through tonight. Tomorrow, talk to the fairies. Wake up nice and early to do it, okay? Then, just take care of her. Do something fun. I don’t know, go sledding. Build a snowman. Read her stories. Watch TV. Whatever!” Ruby says simply, yawning.

“I like sledding,” Emma muses. “I can do that.”

“Good. So, you’re not gonna let me walk home?”

“Nope,” Emma smiles.

“So, where can I sleep? I was halfway through a bottle of red wine with Granny when you called,” she asks, punctuating her question with a yawn.

“Should you have been that close to an open flame?” Emma jokes.

“I’m a wolf. My alcohol tolerance is surprisingly high. But, I worked opening, and I had to shovel out the parking lot all day. I’m tired. So, where am I going to sleep?”

“Let’s see if we can find some spare rooms. This house is big enough, right?” Emma smiles, leading Ruby up the stairs. She puts Ruby in a spare room near where Henry normally sleeps, deciding to sleep on an armchair in Regina’s room, wanting to be near the child. She keeps a close eye on Regina, as if waiting for her to wake up screaming, wondering what she’s going to do with this toddler. Slowly, at some point, she falls asleep.


	3. Snow Balls and Tantrums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of plot, some tantrums, and some snow ball fights.

Emma didn’t realize that kids get up so  _ damn early _ .

Regina woke up several times in the night, sometimes from a nightmare so terrifying she’d cry for twenty minutes before Emma could even get her to take a breath. Other times, she just seemed to open her eyes, glance around the room, then close them again. But when she finally woke up for the day, she just sat there for a while. Emma woke when Regina stood, the creak of the floorboards enough to startle Emma.

“Jesus!” she shouts in surprise, jolting awake. Regina squeaks in response and falls on the floor, covering her head.

“I’m sorry!” she cries. Emma kneels down on the floor, lying on her belly so she’s on Regina’s level.

“Hey, kid, you just startled me. I’m not mad,” Emma whispers, her voice still thick with sleep. Regina lifts her head carefully to peer at her.

“You’re not?” she mumbles, her words still muffled by the carpet.

“Nah,” Emma says, yawning. “You hungry?” Regina nods, taking Emma’s outstretched hand and venturing down to the kitchen. It’s then that Emma notices the sun has barely risen, and it’s only 5:30AM. She wants to groan, but doesn’t want to upset Regina. Coffee is the first thing she starts, settling Regina in a chair at the table. “What’re you hungry for?” she asks as she makes her coffee.

“Breakfast,” Regina says simply. Emma just sighs. She opens the cupboards, trying to find something easy to make. Of course, Regina doesn’t keep mixes, or simple things in her cupboards, so Emma doesn’t quite know what to do.

“Hey, kiddo, wanna do something fun?” Emma asks, whispering. Regina nods. “Let’s go wake Ruby!” Regina pouts.

“Mama says not to wake people. No one likes to hear children,” she scolds.

“Well, remember it’s just us for now, little one. And  _ Emma says _ that we should go wake Ruby up so she can have breakfast with us. She’s hungry.” Regina nods, seeming to accept this response, and follows Emma up the stairs. Emma silently counts down as they enter her room, and on her signal, they both jump on the bed together.

“Ach!” Ruby lets out a mangled yelp and tries to sit up, all tangled up in her blankets. “Mmm, what time is it?” she mumbles.

“Time for you to teach me how to make pancakes,” Emma grins. Ruby glares at her, but stands.

“Only because I’m afraid you’d burn down the house,” she grumbles. Regina tugs on Emma’s hand.

“What’s a pamcake?” she whispers.

 

“We should go sledding,” Emma says with a mouth full of chocolate chip pancake.

“Mama says ladies don’t talk with food in their mouth,” Regina points out. Ruby has to laugh at a three year old correcting Emma’s manners, even if that three year old is Regina Mills. Emma has the grace to look embarrassed while she swallows.

“We should go sledding,” Emma repeats, once her mouth is empty.

“What’s that?” Regina asks, crinkling her nose.

“Something we can do  _ after _ we go talk to the fairies,” Ruby says sternly, with a pointed look at Emma.

“Right,” Emma agrees.

“Give me the car keys, and I’ll run back to my place and get dressed. I can get some of my old snow clothes from our attic, too, so Regina can have something to wear.” Ruby stands, and Emma points to the counter where she had left her keys.

“Goodbye, Miss Ruby,” Regina says, hurrying to stand and curtsy. Ruby smiles at her, curtsying back before she bids her own goodbye. Satisfied, Regina sits back down to finish her pancake.

“So, kid, you have to take a bath before we can go anywhere,” Emma tells her, rinsing off her dish in the sink. Regina wrinkles her nose again. “What’s wrong?”

“You keep calling me kid,” Regina whines.

“You are a kid,” Emma smiles.

“That’s not my name!” Regina huffs in frustration, kicking her feet.

“Yeah, but Regina is a big name for such a little girl,” Emma teases, turning around to face Regina, helping her out of the chair when she struggles. “Can I call you Reggie?” Emma asks.

“No!” Regina protests, stomping her foot.

“Gina?” Emma asks. Regina cants her head, considering.

“Fine,” she sighs. Emma has to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“Can we go give you a bath now, your highness?” Emma asks. Regina nods, allowing Emma to lead her back upstairs to the master bathroom.

 

“You know, you  _ can _ try and enjoy this a little bit,” Emma tells her. She had searched in the back of the bathroom closet before finding some old toy ducks, and boats, and bubble bath before starting Regina’s bath. She had made sure the water was warm but not too hot. She had tried so hard to do it right, like a mom is supposed to be able to do, but Regina just sits in the water, staring at the spot in front of her, completely passive while Emma helps her with the washcloth.

“Nanny doesn’t like it when I get her wet,” Regina says softly. Emma tickles under her chin before swilling the water around roughly, splashing herself.

“Well I’m already wet, so I don’t mind. Look, play with the boats while I wash your hair, hmm?” Emma suggests. Regina smiles shyly, taking the smallest of the boats, and a rubber duck wearing a crown. She begins to float them on the water in front of her, mumbling softly to herself as she plays. Emma grabs the bottle of shampoo. It’s not exactly kid’s shampoo, but it says it’s gentle, so it should be fine. She gently works the shampoo through Regina’s hair, glad to see Regina smiling and babbling now.

 

“Where are we going now?” Regina asks, padding behind Emma, holding just a towel around herself. The towel is too long, so after Regina trips on it for the fifth time, Emma just scoops her up, swaddling her in the towel.

“To find you some clothes,” Emma explains, leading her up to a guest room that Emma is almost certain is just for storage. Boxes are piled up throughout the room, labelled precisely. After a little bit of searching, she finds a box labelled “ _ Henry’s clothes: 2-5”. _ “Perfect!” Emma smiles, putting Regina on the ground. She rifles through the box before pulling out what seems like a suitable outfit.

“Not that,” Regina pouts. Emma frowns, holding up the red, long sleeve turtleneck bearing a puppy on it, and the corduroy overalls with a truck on the front.

“Why not?” Emma practically whines. She hears the door open downstairs, and assumes it’s Ruby.

“Those are boy’s clothes!” Regina cries, stomping her foot indignantly. “No twousers!” Regina pouts, and Emma bites her lip, trying not to laugh at her mispronunciations. God, why do little kids sound so damn cute?

“Emma?” Ruby calls, her footsteps in the hallway.

“Down here, last bedroom on the left,” Emma instructs her, not bothering to raise her voice. “Gina, sweetheart, it’s all we have.”

“No!” Regina screams, stomping her foot so violently. Her face is growing red, and Emma can see tears in her eyes. Ruby pushes the door open, raising one eyebrow accusingly at Emma.

“Gina,” Emma says, trying to be stern. “We have to get you dressed, now.”

“No! No, no, no!” Regina continues. She drops her towel to the floor, crossing her arms over her chest. Ruby rolls her eyes, and Emma blushes.

“Gina, yes.” She turns to Ruby. “Did you get pull-ups?” she murmurs. Ruby tosses her the package, and Emma pulls one out.

“No!” Regina yells, and she throws herself on the floor in protest. Tears are flowing freely down her cheeks. Emma groans internally. What the hell does she do?

“Um, Regina, I need you to be a big girl and put on the pull-up,” Emma says. “Please,” she adds. Regina shoots her an impressive glare for a three year old. “I mean it, Regina. You need to put this on, or else,” she threatens vaguely. How does one punish a three year old? A time out? That sounds about right. Regina just sits up, still glaring. “I’m going to count to five.” Regina’s eyes widen, and she gulps. “Are you going to let me put this on?” Regina nods, and Emma can feel her body sag in relief. Once Regina is in the pull-up, she reaches for the shirt.

“No!” Regina screeches. “Don’t want it!” she says, and her breathing begins to pick up.The tears have started again.

“Gina, why?” Emma asks, but even she can hear the desperation in her voice.

“No boy pants,” she whimpers. “Not a boy.”

“I know,” Emma nods. “I know. But look, am I a boy?” Regina shakes her head quickly, her breath hitching as she cries. “See, I wear pants. And look at Ruby. Is she a boy?” Again, Regina shakes her head. “She’s wearing pants. Don’t you wanna wear pants? They’re comfier,” she says, trying to grin at Regina. But the girl just keeps crying, whimpering “no, no, no,” over and over again.

“Hey, Gina, if you put your clothes on like a big girl, Emma will give you a treat later,” Ruby offers.

“T-treat?” Regina whimpers, her shoulders still shaking. 

“Big one,” Ruby claims. Considering this, Regina lifts her arms up, letting Emma slip the shirt on over her head, and stepping into the overalls. They’re too big, so Emma rolls up the legs and tightens the straps, but once she’s all set, she’s very cute, and her tears have mostly subsided.

“Cute as a button,” Emma grins, tapping her nose. “Now, let’s go talk to the fairies.”

 

Emma had Ruby entertain Regina while she put on fresh clothes, thankful that she had fallen asleep here often enough that Henry had told her to keep a spare outfit here. Sometimes, after family movie night, Emma just couldn’t keep her eyes open, and Regina never seemed to wake her. Emma figured Henry must beg his other mother not to toss her out.  _ Speaking of Henry _ , Emma thinks as she pulls on her Storybrooke Sheriff’s Department snow coat.  _ I’ll have to explain this to him, soon. _

“Alright,  _ now _ we can go see the fairies,” Emma grins. Regina is silent on the ride over, just staring wide-eyed out the window. Emma picks her up, carrying her into the convent, and Regina buries her head in Emma’s neck.

“Emma Swan,” the Blue Fairy smiles. “Who’s this?” She looks expectantly at the bundle in Emma’s arms.

“Gina, can you introduce yourself?” Emma whispers into her hair. Regina slowly turns to face Blue.

“Hello, my name is Regina,” she whispers. The fairies eyes widen, and Regina buries her face back in Emma’s jacket.

“Hey, Rubes, why don’t you take Regina outside to play, or something. Okay, Gina? We’ve gotta talk about some grownup stuff,” Emma says gently, transferring Regina to Ruby’s arms. She waits until they’re out of earshot before turning back to the fairy.

“So, we have to fix that,” Emma says, her thumb pointing back to where Regina and Ruby had just left.

“I suppose we do,” the Blue Fairy sighs. “Step into my office.”

 

“What you doing?” Regina asks. Ruby grins at her, showing her the snow ball.

“Making a snowman! You ever do that?” Regina shakes her head.

“Mama says snow’s too cold,” Regina pouts.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Ruby smiles devilishly, tossing the small snowball at Regina, hitting her softly in the chest. Regina’s jaw drops.

“Ruby!” she whines. But she quickly smiles, searching the ground. She grabs a small clump of snow, trying to throw it back at Ruby. It’s off target, going way out to the side, and it falls apart as it flies. “Hey!”

“Come here, kid, let me show you how to make a snowball,” Ruby grins. They spend half an hour making snowballs and tossing them at each other, forgetting they had originally meant to make a snowman. When Emma comes back out, Regina surprises her by tossing a snowball her way. But it goes higher than Regina had intended, hitting Emma in the face. Regina freezes. Emma freezes. Ruby laughs her ass off.

“I’ll get you for that,” Emma says, laughing to show Regina she isn’t serious. Then, she stoops down to pick up Regina and fall in the snow with her. Regina rolls off of her, giggling, and running to hide behind Ruby. “Alright, truce,” Emma laughs. “We’ve gotta go get Henry.”

“Henry?” Regina asks.

“My son. You’ll like him. Come on, Gina,” Emma says, picking up the girl. Ruby idly wonders how Henry will react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: meeting Henry and sledding


	4. Adventures with Henry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Henry is a great big brother, and Regina is a little bit of a daredevil!

“Hey, Em, I’ve gotta get to the diner,” Ruby whispers as they drive back into town.

“I’ll drop you off on the way to go get Henry. Hey, thanks for helping out last night,” Emma replies as she pulls onto Main Street.

“No problem. We had fun, right Gina?” Ruby calls, reaching back to tickle Regina’s leg. After a few minutes, Emma pulls over in front of the diner.

“Hey, thanks again,” Emma says. “The fairies ought to be able to fix this within a week.”

“If you need any more help, call me or Granny,” Ruby offers as she gets out of the car, waving at Regina before jogging across the road.

“Alright, Gina,” Emma grins, turning back to face the toddler. “Now, we go get Henry.” Regina nods, shifting nervously in her seat. But Emma has already turned around, driving towards the Zimmer household, and doesn’t notice this.

 

“Hey, Ma- uh, who’s that?” Henry asks, glancing at Regina as he goes to get in the car.

“Um, Henry, this is Regina. There was a little… magical accident,” Emma explains in a whisper as Henry buckles himself into the front seat.

“Um, hi Regina,” he says, waving at her. She waves shyly.

“We going sledding,” Regina explains quietly.

“We are?” Henry asks his other mother, grinning and bouncing in his seat. Emma laughs, nodding as she shifts her car into gear and starts back toward Mifflin road.

“We are, indeed. We just have to get some snow clothes on, and find our sleds,” Emma explains. “Henry, why don’t you explain what sledding is to Regina?” she asks, smiling as Henry turns around to quickly explain the concept while Emma drives them home.

 

“Regina, do I need to change your pull up before we put the snow clothes on?” Emma whispers. Regina bites her thumbnail, shyly nodding. Emma smiles, nodding. “Okay, sweet girl. Okay,” she nods, cleaning Regina up before getting her dressed in the pink snow clothes Ruby had dropped off. When they come out of the bedroom, they find Henry in his navy blue snow coat, and layers of gray sweatpants, struggling to zip up his coat with mittens on. Emma puts Regina down on the ground, quickly zipping Henry’s jacket.

“Ready to go?” he asks, bouncing back and forth on his heels.

“I gotta get dressed. Can you help Regina put on her boots, mittens, and hat?” Emma asks, pointing to the pile of remaining accessories on the table.

“Yeah!” Henry nods excitedly. “My mom keeps her snow clothes upstairs in the way back of her dresser, if you want to borrow it.” Emma nods, watching from the bottom step as Henry gently lifts Regina onto the chair to get her boots on. She smiles before running up the stairs to get herself ready.

When she comes back down, layered in Regina’s sweatpants and her Storybrooke Sheriff snow coat, she finds Regina and Henry giggling on the floor, Henry kneeling over her to tickle her. Emma just grins, pulling on her boots, gloves, and hat before making her presence known.

“Who’s ready to go sledding?” she calls excitedly.

“Me!” Henry and Regina shout at the same time. Emma just laughs, ushering them out to the car.

 

Storybrooke has exactly one good sledding hill in the park.

So, when the Emma arrives, towing the two small Mills behind her, it’s already busy, and several paths have already been carved out. Henry pulls the two sleds they had found while Emma carries the snow tube in one hand, and Regina clutches her other one tighter.

“Miss Emma, there’s lots of people,” she mutters nervously, leaning into Emma’s leg.

“You’ll be okay, sweet girl,” Emma whispers, leaning down to hug her with one arm before leading her up the well worn path to the top of the hill.

“Emma, scared!” Regina cries once they reach the top. She clings to Emma’s leg, watching kids go tumbling down the hill. 

“Hey, hey, hey, now,” Emma says softly, kneeling down to look at Regina. “That’s okay, my sweet girl. Gina, it’s okay to be scared. We don’t have to do this, but I think you might have fun. Do you want me to go down with you?” Regina goes to stick her thumb in her mouth, but is blocked by her glove, so instead just nods shyly. “Okay, I can do that.” Emm grabs the sled that Henry had abandoned, already having flown down the hill on the tube, racing to find his friends. Emma seats herself in the back before pulling Regina down onto her lap. “Ready?” Emma asks, waiting for Regina’s hesitant nod before launching them down the hill.

About halfway down the hill, Regina’s screams of terror morph into laughter, and after an hour of sledding with Emma, or Henry, Regina insists on going down by herself. She forgets to steer, and ends up drifting onto a track some older kids had made that ended in a ramp. When Regina went flying through the air, losing her grip on the sled, Emma sprinted down the hill faster than any of the kids on their sleds.

“Again, again!” Regina cries when Emma scoops her out of the snowdrift she had landed in. Emma just laughs.

“Again?” she asks breathily.

“Again!” Regina insists.

“Okay, baby girl,” Emma pants, clutching Regina to her chest. “Just a few more times, because Emma’s getting tired. And cold.”

“Mmmkay,” Gina nods. And Emma laughs again, relieved Gina is okay.

 

“Hey, Ma, can we have hot chocolate? And maybe watch a movie?” Henry asks, cheeks still red from the cold.

“Yeah, just get into some comfy clothes while I change Regina into her new pajamas that Granny dropped off,” Emma smiles tiredly.

“I can help!” Henry offers.

“You sure about that, kid?” Emma raises one eyebrow. Henry nods, taking Regina’s hand as they run up the stairs, giggling. Emma stands at the bottom, smiling, imagining Henry helping take care of a younger sibling. It warms her heart for a moment before she remembers that she isn’t getting pregnant any time soon, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be living here in the mansion with Regina and Henry. Shaking the thought from her mind, Emma goes upstairs to put on some pajamas, glad Granny had brought over some of her clothes when she dropped off Ruby’s old clothes for Regina.

 

When Emma comes back downstairs, she finds Regina in a pair of red flannel pajamas, her hair in two loose braids. Emma isn’t sure where Henry learned that, but it’s not bad, and looks very cute on Gina. They’re in the kitchen, giggling and whispering as Henry boils something on the stove, Regina handing him ingredients from below the cupboard. Emma leans against the doorjamb for a minute, watching them with a smile before clearing her throat.

“Ma!” Gina squeaks in surprise. Emma chuckles, propelling herself forward to scoop the toddler up.

“Hey, Mom,” Henry smiles. “We thought we’d start without you, since it took you  _ forever _ to get dressed,” he teases.

“Hey, you guys are the ones who got so much snow in my hair! I had to comb it all out! Speaking of hair, where did you learn to braid, Henry?”

“Ava taught me,” Henry blushes. Emma smirks, but doesn’t say anything. “So, we’re making hot cocoa,” he says, abruptly changing the subject.

“Smells good,” Emma comments.

“Henry says we watch movies!” Gina giggles, squirming in Emma’s arms.

“Mhmm, and I’m going to make dinner while you do,” Emma nods. And of course, by “make dinner” she means “order pizza.” As the hot chocolate finishes, Emma pours it into two ceramic mugs and one plastic cup with a lid, making sure to put extra marshmallows for the pouting toddler.

“Come on, Gina,” Henry says, leading his toddler-mother into the living room while Emma cleans up the kitchen and orders the pizza before heading in to join her little family in watching  _ Monsters Inc. _

 

“Check the closet!” Regina insists. Emma regrets watching that movie now. Regina had been too terrified by Randall (the admittedly super creepy lizard thing) to finish the movie, and so never got to see that the monsters changed the rules to make power by laughter.

“No monsters in here,” Emma announces loudly, opening the closet.

“You sure?” Regina asks, pulling the blanket up in front of her nose to hide. She jumps at the knock on her bedroom door. “Henwy?” she mutters.

“Hey, Gina,” he says gently. “Still worried about monsters?” She nods hurriedly. “Can I help get rid of them?”

“How?” she asks, her voice quiet, as if worried she’ll alert the monsters to their plot. Henry leans in close, whispering conspiratorially. 

“Monster spray,” he whispers, brandishing a spray bottle with a homemade label, calling it “monster spray.”

“Whasat?” Regina gasps, wrapping her arms around Henry’s neck as he balances her on one hip.

“This spray is guaranteed to get rid of any monsters,” Henry explains. “It means wherever we spray, the monsters run away, and go somewhere else. So, where do monsters hide?” Emma bites her lip, grinning as Henry and Regina run around the room. Whenever Regina stops him with a short bark of “here,” Henry stops and sprays copious amounts of something that smells like lavender. Once the entire room smells like the flower, Henry settled Regina back down in the bed. “Better?” he asks. Regina nods, rubbing her eye with her fist, unable to stifle a yawn.

“I’ll be back, munchkin, okay?” Emma whispers, squeezing Regina’s shoulder as she leads Henry back to his own room as he yawns. “How’d you come up with that idea?” she asks him.

“Mom used to do that when I couldn’t sleep. I found the old bottle up on the fridge. It’s just lavender scented sleep-aid spray,” he shrugs, getting into his bed.

“You’d make a good big brother, kid,” Emma smiles.

“You trying to tell me something?” Henry grins slyly.

“No!” she laughs.

“But you and Hook-”

“There is no me and Hook,” Emma asserts.

“But I thought-”

“No, there isn’t anything. He’s just… not a long term guy. He’s going back to the Enchanted Forest, and it’s what he wanted. What we both wanted. So, don’t be getting any ideas,” she warns him. He just rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Night, mom,” he sighs, closing his eyes.

“Night, kid,” she whispers, kissing his temple. He sighs as she turns off the light and goes back to Gina’s room. Tonight, instead of watching from the arm chair, Emma makes herself comfortable in the bed with the toddler, already sound asleep. As soon as she feels the bed shift, Gina rolls over to snuggle into Emma’s chest.

Emma lays there for a while, wondering if this is what her life would have been like had she been the one to raise Henry. Of course Emma had always idly wondered over those first ten years without him, but it was always clouded by her own doubts about her skills as a mother. Now, now she seriously wondered. Could she handle raising a kid? Raising one from birth? Did she want to?

Feeling Gina sigh against her chest, sucking her thumb, one arm clenched around the comforter, Emma finds her answer. Yeah, she does want this. She wants another kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestions for the Swan-Mills clan?


	5. No More Monkeys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma called the doctor and the doctors said... No more Ginas jumping on the bed!

“Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,” Emma chants rhythmically. Regina giggles, clapping to join in for the last line of the book: “‘No more monkeys jumping on the bed!’” Emma had found the book with Belle at the library the next day, happy to keep playing house while Mother Superior searches for a cure. They were sitting on Regina’s bed now while Emma tried to get Regina to settled down for a nap.

“One more, Emma,” Gina mumbles, stifling a yawn.

“How about a song, hmm?” Emma asks, having run out of books to read. Gina nods, her thumb gently sliding into her mouth as she closes her eyes. “ _ Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.” _ Emma starts singing the song again and Gina joins in quietly. They get through three rounds before Gina’s breathing slowed, and she was asleep.

“Oh, thank God,” Emma moans, lurching out of bed.

 

“Hey, Ma, I’m going out to shovel the driveway,” Henry calls. Emma nods.

“I’m gonna take a shower while Gina’s still napping. I’ve got the walky-talky set up so I can hear her if she wakes, or something. Don’t stay out too long,” Emma instructs him, grabbing a towel as she heads up to the guest shower. She’d like to use Regina’s master shower, but doesn’t want to risk waking a sleeping toddler.

“‘Kay,” he shouts. Emma hears the door slam and starts the shower, happy to crank up the heat and take some time to relax. 

 

Gina wakes quietly when she hears the front door slam.

She sits up in the big bed, all tangled in her red pajamas (far too big- Mama wouldn’t like how unladylike it looks). Part of her wants to go find Emma. She’s bored, and she’s hungry. But then Mama’s voice creeps into her head.  _ Nobody wants to hear you so early, Regina. Wait until nanny comes to get you _ . So, Gina sits.

But there’s only so long that a child can sit still before she gets bored. Gina figures that so long as she doesn’t make any noise, Mama can’t be very angry. And Mama isn’t here, so maybe Emma won’t be mad if she just sits quietly, reading her books. Gina reaches forward to grab the monkey book, smiling at the pictures.

“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” Gina giggles, bouncing slightly in her seat. She whips her head around, making sure no one could hear her. When no one came running in to shush her, Gina stood up on the bed, but she shivered, and pulled the sheets around herself like a cape. “No more monkeys jumping on the bed,” she whispers, walking around, enjoying the slight spring in her step. “Jumping on the bed,” she sing songs, standing in the middle so that she can really jump.

“Whoa!” Gina exclaims, flying higher than she had planned, landing softly on the bed, bouncing a little more as she lands. But she doesn’t know why the doctor in the monkey book tells them not to jump on the bed. It’s  _ fun _ ! So Gina stands again, taking her cape with her as she jumps, higher and higher, giggling. She’s having so much fun jumping that she doesn’t realize she’s getting far too close to the edge of the bed, not until her foot misses the mattress and she slips off, cracking her head against the nightstand.

“Uh-oh,” Gina mumbles when she stands. She’s made a mess, made lots of noise when she knocked over the table. The lamps is on the floor in pieces, and there’s red stuff everywhere. Gina’s head is hot, and sticky, and when she touches it, her hand comes away red. “Uh-oh,” she repeats, quieter now. The door slams open, and Gina jumps. “I’m sorry!” she squeaks as Emma’s eyes widen, stumbling backwards, fearing punishment. “I’m sorry!”

“Oh my God,” Emma shouts. Gina stumbles, crying now, and falls to the floor. “Oh my  _ God _ ,” Emma continues to shout, rushing over to Gina.

“I’m sorry, sorry, sorry,” Gina cries, squirming, trying to pull away from Emma. As she does this, she is only making the blood flow faster from her head, and her movements become sluggish, and weak.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” Emma mumbles. “Gina, I’m not angry, okay? Not angry. We just need to fix you, okay?” Emma wraps Gina up in the blood-stained sheet, reaching for her phone as the girl continues to sob, her breath loud, and ragged. “Ambulance, ambulance, come on,” Emma mumbles.

“ _ 911, what is your emergency? _ ” Ruby’s voice chirps on the other end of the phone.

“Rubes, it’s me, Emma. Gina fell off the bed, or something. And, and she’s all bloody on her head. I need an ambulance, I think,” Emma stutters nervously.

“ _ Em, you need to take a deep breath. You’re at Mifflin? An ambulance is on the way. But you need to be calm for Regina, okay? Put the phone on speaker,”  _ Ruby assures her. Emma nods, putting the phone on the floor as she puts it on speakerphone.

“Now what?” Emma asks, her voice shaky. “It’s, oh God, the blood’s everywhere, Rubes.”

“ _ Do you have gauze, or a cloth or something? A glove? Because you need to put pressure on the wound, but try to use a clean cloth as a barrier. It’ll help stop it up until they get here,” _ Ruby explains calmly. Emma knows this. She’s taken first aid classes regularly, even helped teach them sometimes. She knows what she’s supposed to do, but her heart is in her throat, and she can’t think straight with Regina bleeding in her arms.

“I’m gonna use the sheet. Should there be this much blood?” Emma whispers. Regina whimpers in pain when Emma presses a bundle of the fabric against her head and Emma hesitates. “I’m sorry, baby,” she murmurs.

_ “Emma, you taught me this, remember? Head wounds bleed a lot. It happens, but keep the pressure. They’re just two minutes away. You should hear the sirens soon. Gina, sweetie, can you hear me?” _

“R-ruby,” Gina whines, her shoulders shaking.

_ “I know, kiddo. Emma’s gonna make it stop hurting, soon, okay? Can you tell me how this happened? _ ”

“M-monkeys,” Gina sobs. 

“Did you have a bad dream?” Emma asks, confused.

“N-no more m-monkeys jumping on the b-bed,” Gina tries to explain.

“ _ Sweetheart, were you jumping on the bed, and you fell?” _ Ruby asks.

“Uh-huh,” Gina whimpers. Emma hears the sirens approaching, and wonders briefly what Henry must be thinking out in the driveway.

“Ma! Ma, what’s wrong?” he shouts. She can hear loud boots clomping up the stairs.

“Henry, send them in the bedroom, then just stay outside,” Emma warns.

“ _ Okay, they’ve got you now, so I’m gonna go. Let me know how everything works out. Good luck, Gina,” _ Ruby says, hanging up as the door opens and two paramedics walk in, trailed by Henry.

“Oh my God!” he shouts, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“I said stay  _ out _ , Henry!” Emma shouts. Regina starts to cry again.

“Son, you need to give her some air,” the paramedic instructs him, pushing him back out of the room. “Sit down, head between your knees. Deep breaths. Hey, Ronny, can you handle the kid? He’s looking a little green.”

“Hen?” Emma whimpers, torn between which child to help.

“Em-ma!” Regina cries out in fear when the paramedic tries to take her away. 

“I’ll hold her, okay? I’ll carry her. Please, she’s terrified,” Emma asks. The paramedic nods, pulling on gloves.

“We need to get her to the hospital. I don’t have the right numbing agents to do this here, and she might need a transfusion,” the paramedic explains. “Keep her stable while you walk, okay?” Emma nods, careful to keep consistent pressure on Regina’s head wound.

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Take care of Gina,” Henry instructs her from the couch in the living room. Emma just nods mutely, climbing into the back of the ambulance to settle herself on the gurney, giving the paramedic access to Gina’s head.

 

It took three hours for the doctors to finally see Regina, and actually do something about her. In the meantime, Emma had called and made sure Henry was okay with her parents. They had run tests on her blood, kept pressure, put in IV fluids, done everything except stitch up the large gash on Regina’s forehead. Regina was crying constantly, moaning about the pain, and Emma couldn’t do anything to help her. 

“Okay, let’s get started on fixing that up,” Dr. Whale announces, snapping open the curtain to their bed. Regina whimpers, and clutches at Emma’s hand. “Regina, my name is Dr. Whale, and I understand you got a little boo-boo on your head, hmm?” he asks. Emma wants to laugh at his attempts to relate to Gina. “Alright, Emma, if you could hold her still-”

“You’re not going to sedate her, or numb her or anything?” Emma interrupts.

“We don’t like to knock children out if we don’t have to. Anesthesia doesn’t always agree with children, and the risks-”

“What about the risks if she moves while you’re stitching her up?” Emma hisses.

“If you are okay with accepting the risks that come with it, we can give her a sedative and she’ll sleep right through the procedure,” Whale says gently.

“Anything, but she’s been writhing in pain for hours over here! I’m not ready to let you go into her head with a glorified sewing needle without giving her something for the pain!” Emma whispers sharply.

“I’ll have someone bring in the proper paperwork,” he nods, leaving. Emma groans, sitting back down.

“Where’d he go?” Gina whimpers. “Hurts, Emma.”

“He went to get some special stuff to make it not hurt, kiddo,” she informs her, letting Gina squeeze her hand. “Want me to sing you a song while we wait for him?” Gina nods, wincing.

“A new song,” she tells Emma.

“A new song,” Emma agrees, taking a minute to think. She vaguely remembers hearing her mother singing one to Neal a few weeks ago, and since it was a children’s song, the repetition made it stick.  _ “Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin’ for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin’ for to carry me home.” _

“Emma, the paperwork,” a nurse interrupts gently, handing Emma the clipboard before she starts humming along. “Want me to sing while Emma does the grownup stuff?” she asks sweetly. Gina nods, her lip wobbling pitifully. “ _ I looked all over Jordan, and what did I see? Comin’ forth to carry me home? There was a band of angels, coming after me, oh comin’ forth to carry me home.” _ She smiles as Emma hands back the paperwork. “Dr. Whale will be back in just a minute, okay, cutie?” she winks at Gina as she leaves. But, a minute in doctor time is more like twenty minutes.

“Alright, take two. Okay, Gina, you’re gonna get a little sleepy, okay? But when you wake up, you’ll be all better, okay?” Whale explains as a nurse hooks up something into Gina’s IV. She nods, and already her eyes are drooping. When they close, Emma moves to her side, holding her hand while Whale stitches up her head.

Emma hums to her the entire time.


	6. Lazy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little domestic fluff for today

It only took about fifteen minutes for them to sew up Regina’s head, clean up the blood, and get her all settled. It took another half hour for Regina to wake up, and then they had to wait for most of the drugs to leave her system before they discharged her. She was still sleepy when Emma took her home, still dressed in the hospital pajamas, her own clothes having been too stained to fix. They had changed her into a pair of thin hospital pajamas covered in tigers and circus clowns and balloons, and wrapped her in warm blankets before sending Emma out.

“Hey, thanks for the ride, Mom,” Emma sighs, climbing into the car. “How’s Henry?”

“I’m good,” he says, turning around in the front seat. “How’s  _ my _ mom?” He tries to look at Gina, swaddled in the blankets, but when the car starts to move, he sits back down.

“She’s fine. Sleeping, right now. They gave her something to keep it from hurting, but it’s pretty strong, so she’s… sleeping,” Emma sighs. “God, kids are terrifying. How did she do this with you, kid?”

“I liked reading more than sports and stuff,” he shrugs.

“This is weird,” Mary Margaret sighs, glancing at her daughter in the rearview mirror. “She’s his mother, but younger than him, and she was my step-mother, and now she’s my son’s age but she’s also my grandson’s mother, and this is very confusing.”

“You’re just getting this now?” Emma says dryly, leaning her head against the seat. “Hey, why are we stopping at the apartment?”

“My stuff’s there,” Henry says. “Plus, you’re covered in blood. Thought you might want to shower and change.”

“Smart thinking, kid,” she nods, shifting Gina as she gets out of the car and goes up the stairs into the apartment. “I’m gonna put her down in my bed upstairs, okay? Get me out of the shower if she wakes up, or something.” She waves quickly to her father before running up the stairs to the loft. Gina looks small, curled up in the blankets on the bed. The cut on her forehead is still angry, and red, peeking out from beneath the white bandage. Emma kisses it gently before grabbing her bathrobe and getting in the shower.

 

“Where’s Emma?” a small voice says. David startles, turning around. “I’m sorry,” she squeaks. He kneels down on the floor, taking in the former Evil Queen’s (wait, if this is the younger version, is she really the former?- this is confusing, he thinks) rumpled state. Her cheeks are pink from sleep, her hair is tangled, and her eyes are watering as she stares at the floor, hands balled into fists, one trailing the blanket from the hospital.

“It’s okay, kiddo. I’m David, you’re Gina, right?” she nods, curtsying. He stands, bowing formally before kissing her hand. She smiles at him, and he’s glad to see her wipe away the tears. “Emma’s in the shower. You just get up?”

“Where’s Henry?” she asks, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

“He’s out with my wife. They went to go get some food. Are you hungry?” She nods nervously. “What do you want to eat?”

“A, uh, apple?” Gina asks, biting her thumbnail. David smiles.

“Sure thing, kid. An apple probably tastes better than your fingernails,” he teases. She hurriedly pulls her thumb out of her mouth, blushing. She watches silently while David cuts the apple into slices for her.

“Thank you,” she says, taking the little plate and sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“You want to come watch TV? Or play? My son Neal is, y’know younger than you, but he’s a pretty cool little dude,” David suggests, shrugging. She stands, following him into the nursery.

“He’s a baby,” she frowns, chomping on an apple slice thoughtfully.

“He’s almost a year old,” David defends. “And he’s a pretty awesome baby, right Neal?” Neal gurgles happily from the crib, sitting up.

“He’s a baby,” she repeats. “I’m not a baby.”

“Never said you were,” he nods, picking up Neal. Gina trails him as they move to the living room, and he sets the baby up in a contraption where he can sit and jump, shifting around, playing with the toys and things attached to his seat. Gina just walked around the strange contraption, touching its plastic edge. “This is called a bouncer. It lets him bounce around, play, keep himself entertained. What do you think?” David asks. Gina spins around a little circular toy, beads rattling around inside. Neal giggles, bouncing at the noise.

“I think… I want Emma,” Gina finally sighs, sitting on the floor next to Neal, rolling the bead chamber over and over again.

“Fear not, kid, I’m here,” Emma announces, jogging down the stairs, running a towel through her wet hair. “Hey, Neal,” she adds, tickling her brother’s ear. “Where’s Henry? I want to get something to eat.”

“Out with Snow getting something to eat,” David grins. “Wanna watch TV while we wait for them?”

“Movie!” Gina squeals.

“Kid says movie,” Emma shrugs. “Got anything good?”

“ _ Cars _ ,” David shrugs.

“Like Emma’s yellow carriage?” Gina asks, tilting her head. David laughs.

“Not exactly,” he grins, shaking his head. “It’ll be fun. Sit down.”

 

“What’s this?” Gina asks, making a face at the piece of pizza on her plate.

“Pizza,” Emma laughs, putting a slice on her own plate. “It’s like… bread, and tomatoes, and cheese, and stuff.”

“Like a sandwich?” Gina asks, wrinkling her nose. “Mama sometimes has tiny sandwiches for tea, but not like this.”

“It’s better than a sandwich,” Henry says through a mouthful.

“Emma, he eats with his hands,” Gina whispers, scandalized.

“And talks with his mouthful. Henry, you know better,” Snow scolds gently.

“Sorry,” he says after swallowing.

“Gina, you’re supposed to eat this with your hands. But, if you want, we can cut it up with a knife and fork,” Emma shrugs. Gina frowns for a moment, watching Emma grab it by the crust and take a bite. She then stares determinedly at her own slice before sitting up on her knees, grabbing it with two hands and shoving it in her face.

“Atta girl!” David laughs as she shoved the pizza into her mouth, sauce, cheese and grease smearing all over her cheeks. She coughs, having tried to take too big of a bite, and spits out the food.

“Little bites, Gina,” Emma says, reaching over to pat her on the back as she coughs. “How about I cut it up?”

“No, no!” Gina protests, picking the pizza up. “I do it right!”

“Small bites,” Emma reminds her, watching as Regina takes exaggeratedly small bites, grinning at the taste. In the end, she still gets food all over her face, but Emma just smiles, takes a picture with her camera, and wipes it off before they go back home.

 

“Cutie pie, wanna bake some cupcakes?” Emma asks later in the afternoon. Gina had a lot of energy, but Emma was hesitant to let her run around, terrified she might reopen the stitches, or otherwise hurt herself. Henry had had the idea to do something in the kitchen.

“Cupcakes?” Gina tilts her head. “Like…  _ petit fours _ ?”

“Um… I… don’t know,” Emma says slowly. “But, you know, like, birthday cakes?” Gina nods eagerly. “Imagine a teeny version of that. Like how you’re a teeny tiny version of a person,” Emma teases, tickling Gina’s stomach. She giggles, squirming away.

“Mm’tay! Cupcakes!” she giggles, following Emma into the kitchen.

 

“Mom’s going to kill you,” Henry whispers once Regina is safely at the table, out of earshot. “When she comes back, I mean.” Emma just bit her lip.

Baking with a toddler when she didn’t know how to bake? Not exactly the brightest idea. Luckily, the internet had plenty of easy recipes, and Regina had all of the baking ingredients. But, Gina was a persistent little kid, always wanting to help pour, and mix, and measure. Letting a toddler handle the electric mixer? A  _ terrible _ idea. Flour had gotten everywhere, all over the walls, all over the three bakers in the kitchen. And when they redid everything to make a new batch? Henry dropped the bowl, and the batter splattered everywhere. Third time’s the charm though, and the cupcakes were in the oven while they sat there, observing the mess, covered in flour, and batter.

“I’ll clean it up,” Emma whispers. “Before she gets… big again, or, whatever. Can you watch the oven while I get her cleaned up?” Henry nods, and Emma carries Regina back up to the master bathroom.

 

“I like cupcakes,” Gina mumbles sleepily. After her bath, they had frosted them with pink and purple frosting (under much more careful supervision). Regina had managed to get frosting only on her cheeks, chin, and fingers while eating two cupcakes, and after an hour-long sugar high, she was now crashing, in pajamas covered in kittens, her hair braided, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“I know, sweet girl. We can have more tomorrow, okay? Go to sleep,” Emma whispers soothingly.

“Sing,” Gina implores, closing her eyes, her thumb in her mouth. Emma smiled, having looked up some new songs earlier today.

“ _ Lavenders blue, dilly dilly, lavenders green. When you are king, dilly dilly, I shall be queen. Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so? Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so. Lavenders green, dilly dilly, lavenders blue. You must love me, dilly dilly, for I love you.” _


	7. Sticky Situations, Serious Solutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN SO LONG. But here it is!

“So, you have a solution?” Emma whispers into the phone. Mother Superior’s phone call woke her up (at six o’clock in the  _ freaking _ morning, mind you), and her voice was still thick with sleep. But the moment she had heard the words ‘we may have figured out a solution for Regina’ she became instantly more alert.

“I said we  _ may _ have one. There’s an old spell, like a basic reversal spell for all magic, all the time. To make it strong enough to undo something this powerful, we have to make some adjustments, do a little bit of experimenting. We’re working on it right now, and we ought to have our first batch in… two days?” she explains clinically. Emma wants to ask how she’s so awake right now.

“Um, yeah, okay, so… Call me when it’s ready?” Emma mumbles, rubbing her eyes. “Wait,” she says after a second, suddenly nervous, wide awake again. “Will it hurt her? These trials? What if they hurt her?”

“They won’t. Our magic is pure,” she says simply, as if that is supposed to be enough. Emma wants to argue, she needs proof. Proof that will hopefully quell this aching feeling, this terrible, terrible knot in her stomach. But to the fairies, the only proof they need is the supposed lightness of their magic, like that has never failed anyone before.

“Um, okay,” she breathes, closing her eyes. Her hand is shaking, and she’s not sure it’s actually okay, but who the hell is she to argue with the Blue freaking Fairy?

“We’ll call you,” she says, her voice clipped. Emma doesn’t even have time to say goodbye before Blue hangs up. She sits down on the edge of the bed, too awake to go back to sleep, and runs a hand through her hair nervously.  _ What if this doesn’t work? What if she fails? What if something bad happens to Regina? _ These thoughts run on a loop, until Emma has to force herself to stand, make coffee, do other normal human things. Once she has a cup of coffee in her hand, she just stands in the doorway, watching Regina’s chest rise and fall.

_ How could I live with myself if I let something bad happen to her? _

 

Regina likes this stuff.

Henry gave it to her, snuck her a little square when Emma wasn’t looking. He had stuck one in his mouth after breakfast, on his way out of Granny’s diner. Regina was kicking at the snow piles on the ground, sticking out her tongue when he wouldn’t tell her what it is.

“My mom says you’re too little,” he whispers by way of explanation. Regina just purses her lips, crosses her arms over her chest, and stares at him. When he sees her eyes filling with tears, and her lower lip starting to wobble, his eyes widen in panic. He’s only seen one tantrum from his little-mother when Emma tried to put her down for a nap, and she “wasn’t even tired.” It had been terrible. “But, I think you’re a big girl, so, uh, here,” he says quickly, tossing the little square at her. “Don’t tell Emma,” he adds before running off. Regina waits until she’s alone before she looks at the square.

It’s green, and smaller than her hand. She fiddles around with it until something pops, and the square, which is actually more like a tiny little box, opens. Teeny, tiny strips of little white paper-like things fall onto the ground, and Gina giggles, glancing back to make sure Emma isn’t coming. Emma was downstairs, and Gina was supposed to be napping, but instead she was kneeling on the floor, picking up the little strips of paper. But they’re not strips of paper. They’re wrapped around something, like a little present. When she opens the present, she finds a little pink… stick. Gina brings it to her nose, sniffs it. It smells good, sweet. She pops it in her mouth.

“Wow!” she whispers, giggling. It tastes like the fruit she eats in the summer, with Daddy. When she remembers this, it makes her sad, and she misses him. She misses her Daddy, and the way his clothes always smelled like aftershave (he had told her the name one day when she asked why he smelled funny). She misses her nanny, and the cook who made her sweets. She misses the stable workers, and the maids. She even misses her Mama, with her loud words and her sharp pinches when Gina misbehaves. She misses them, and it hurts, so she grabs the little blanket that Granny had knitted her, snuggling it close. She realizes that the little square snack isn’t getting soft like food usually does. It’s just getting chewier, and it still tastes good. She opens another one, puts it in her mouth.

After chewing this one, and realizing it’s still chewy, she pulls it out. It’s squishy, and soft, but wet with her spit. She crinkles her nose, and tosses it up in the air. She squeals as it comes back down, tilts her head downward so it doesn’t hit her face. She looks around on the floor for it, but doesn’t see anything. Maybe it rolled under the bed. Either way, nanny said not to eat food off the floor, and there’s plenty more of the little squares, so she puts a few more in her mouth. 

She continues to play, rolling around on the floor, playing with the toys Emma had picked out for her. Eventually, she realizes Emma is standing in the doorway, jaw hanging open. Gina sits up quickly, a guilty look all over her face. She was supposed to be napping, and Emma caught her playing.

“Sorry, Emma. I wasn’t sleepy!” she explains quietly. Emma just opens and closes her mouth, and Gina thinks she looks silly, but she can’t say that, so she just stares at the floor.

“Where did you get the gum?” Emma finally asks, her voice hoarse, her eyes wide. Gina tilts her head.  _ What’s gum? _ “The little, um, the pieces of paper, the-the,  _ the gum! _ ” she clarifies, her voice rising. Gina winces, and the sweet little squishy snack- gum, apparently- falls out of her mouth.

“Henry,” she whimpers. Emma groans.

“Your  _ hair _ ,” she wails. Gina panics. What was wrong with her hair? Mama had always said it was her prettiest look. She insisted that Regina grow out her hair so that it fell in little curls all the way down her back. She loved to braid it, and play with her long hair. Mama said it made her pretty, and Mama doesn’t say that stuff often, so when she does, Gina knows to remember it.  _ What was wrong with her hair? _

“Okay, okay, okay, we can fix this,” Emma says, taking big, deep breaths. She closes her eyes for a moment, and whimpers when she opens them again, looking at Regina.

“What’s wrong, Emma?” Gina whines.

“You got a little gum in your hair, and gum is really sticky, so I need to take you somewhere to get it out, okay?” Emma says, forcing that calm tone back into her voice. Gina just nods.

“They fix my hair?” she asks, spitting the gum into Emma’s open palm, instead moving to chew on her thumbnail.

“They’ll fix it, sweet girl. Come on, let’s get you dressed,” Emma whispers breathlessly.

 

“No!” Gina shrieks. Emma winces. It had been difficult enough getting the toddler in fresh clothes without making her hair even worse. She doesn’t quite understand how such a small piece of gum had gotten so tangled in her hair, so completely wrapped up in chunks of her beautiful, long hair. As soon as they had gotten to the hairdresser, the woman’s eyes had widened, and they ushered Regina to the chair, draping her in a pink cloth. As soon as the woman- Susan, she introduced herself- asked Emma how short she should cut the hair, Gina had started screaming. They had had to take her to a separate room, and shut the door so as not to disturb the other patrons.

“Gina, take a breath,” Emma whispers, struggling to keep a hold on the toddler’s flailing limbs. “There’s too much gum. It’s all over your hair. We have to fix it, okay?”

“No! No hair cut! Don’t want it!” she wails, her little chest heaving in protest. “Mama likes my hair! She’ll get mad if it’s gone!”

“Hey, kiddo, Mama’s not here, okay? She’s not here. She won’t see. And look, hair grows, Gina, it grows!” Emma insists quietly. “And you are pretty with or without your long hair, okay?”

“No! Mama says the hair is the pretty part! She’ll get mad, she’ll know!” Regina whimpers.

“No, sweet girl, she won’t, I promise,” Emma mumbles. Regina finally stops fighting, her body shaking with the effort of breathing, her sobs hitching as she inhales. “You’re still so pretty, so pretty, and you’re such a good girl, so smart, and kind. You’re so pretty, Gina, with long hair, short hair, or no hair.”

“I want h-hair,” she whines.

“You can keep a good chunk of your hair, kiddo,” Susan smiles, leaning against the doorway. “And I  _ promise _ I can make you as pretty as a princess before you leave. Now, can I cut your hair?”

“Mama says I’m a-a queen, not a p-princess,” Gina mumbles, sucking her thumb. Emma wants to pull it out, since it’s probably not the best habit, but can’t bring herself to potentially start another tantrum. Susan just chuckles.

“Well, I’ve styled for queens, too, so I figure I can do that. Now, come on, before it gets even more tangled,” she smiles. Emma scoops Regina up, leading her to the chair again. Once she’s settling on the booster seat, pink plastic cape draped around her entire body, Emma steps back to let Susan work her magic.

Gina still cries as she gets her hair cut; each clump that falls to the floor brings a fresh wave of sniffles and tears. Emma tries to comfort her, but as the hair gets shorter, Gina still cries. Finally, they get the clump of gum cut out, and Susan evens out the hair so that it falls just above Gina’s shoulder. Susan takes her back to the room with all the sinks, leads her to the chair, and gently washes her hair.

“Now, how does a queen like her hair? I can do little crown braids, get you a tiara, hmm?” Susan whispers as Gina finally begins to relax, her breathing evening out as Susan works her hands through the little girl’s hair.

“Yes, please,” Gina sighs, her voice small, still scared. 

 

Two hours after arriving, and Emma is finally taking Gina back home. Susan had delivered on her promises, intricately weaving Gina’s hair into two very thin braids, looping them around her forehead, pinning them behind her head. The rest of her hair was loosely curled, and a tiny plastic tiara sat on top of her head. Gina still sucked her thumb, probably worried about what her mother would say.

“You look very pretty, Miss Gina,” Ruby grins, passing by her as they walk to the diner. Ruby had offered to take a few of Emma’s shifts at the station so that she could take care of Gina during the day. Now, they were going to switch. Ruby was taking Gina for a few hours so Emma could do her job for a while, and figure out what to do about the implications of the fairy’s possible solutions.

“Fanks, Ruby,” Gina giggles around her thumb.

“Ya know, I’ve got a snack here in my bag that’s better than your thumb, hmm?” Ruby says with a slight smirk, holding out her big handbag. Gina giggles, and Ruby bends down to pick her up, balancing her on one hip before flipping her hair behind her shoulder, and smiling at Emma. “We’ll call you if we need you, okay? And don’t worry, we’ll come visit you for lunch.”

“Bye, munchkin,” Emma says, her smile watery.  _ God _ , why was this so hard? Why did she feel like her limbs were filled with lead, unable to move? Her stomach was in her throat, and she had the urge to throw up.

“Say ‘bye-bye, Emma,’” Ruby urges Gina, bouncing her a little. Gina giggles, waving enthusiastically.

“Bye-bye, Emma,” she squeals. “Love you!”

“Love you, sweet girl,” Emma laughs, blowing her a kiss. She worries that if she tries to hug her, she may actually just fall apart, and decide to stay with Gina forever. As she gets to her desk and starts on the paperwork, she can’t help but realize the only other time she’s felt this quiet desperation clawing at her: whenever Henry was in danger. When he had been trapped in that mine. When he ate the turnover. When she was trapped in the Enchanted Forest, away from him. When he was taken to Neverland. When he would walk to school alone in New York.

“Oh Emma, what is happening?” she groans. She can’t get this attached to Gina. She deserves to get back to normal, back to her adult body. Maybe after this is all over-  _ maybe _ \- she can think about another child. If she can ever get over this feeling of gut-wrenching dread, and worry, that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patience is a virtue...? Sorry this has taken so long! I'm really busy, and trying to get my life in order, but I know you've wanted this chapter!


	8. The Big Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... I know I've been MIA for a while... Sorry about that... I'm not *entirely* satisfied with this ending, and maybe later I'll write a little epilogue, but this was originally a one-shot, so I never really had an end-game for this so... sorry...

“You’re  _ sure _ this won’t hurt her?” Emma asks for the fifth time. The Blue Fairy just rolls her eyes, pouring the potion into a sippy cup for Gina. It glitters as it’s poured in, all pink, and blue, and silver flecks of light. Gina giggles, reaching out for it from Emma’s arms, but Emma holds her back.

“It’s fine. The worst that can happen is it won’t work. We tested it on a tree sapling, it was fine. Then, on a raccoon. Also fine. She will be  _ fine _ . Can we do this, now?” Emma nods, handing Gina the bottle before setting her on her feet as she guzzles the pretty potion. They stand there for a few moments in tense silence before Emma sighs gruffly.

“Should it have worked by now?” she asks impatiently. Mother Superior nods, pursing her lips.

“This batch didn’t work. It wasn’t strong enough, so we go back, rework it. We’ll have another batch as soon as possible,” she says briskly, taking her empty vial of potion, and patting Gina on the head as she leaves.

“Emma, we play dress-up now?” Gina whines petulantly. Emma chuckles, grateful that she has more time with this version of Regina Mills.

“Sure thing, kid. We’ll play dress-up, and then we go pick Henry up from the bus, okay?”

“Yay! Henry play, too!” she giggles. Emma loves how Henry has become Gina’s favorite playmate. She loves how domestic this all feels: playing with her toddler until the older son gets home, baking together, eating dinner together, watching TV until it’s bedtime for Gina. She loves the domesticity of it all, and she can’t wait to make this her reality after Regina comes back.

 

It’s a month later that Mother Superior comes back with another potion, this one glittering green and gold. It has the same effect as the last, which is to say, none. Mother Superior promises to find a solution, and Emma desperately needs her version of Regina back. She misses her so much that sometimes it feels like she can’t breathe.

She doesn’t quite know what to do with that revelation.

 

“When’s the last time she asked about her parents?” Ruby asks one day, about a month since Mother Superior last tried to fix Gina. “She used to ask all the time, and cry when I told her she couldn’t see them yet. When’s the last time she even thought about them?”

“It’s been a while. Two weeks? Maybe a month? I guess I never noticed,” Emma sighs heavily. “Do you think she’s forgotten them?” 

“I don’t know,” Ruby replies honestly. They sit in silence for a while, sipping coffee. Gina is asleep upstairs, and Henry is at school. They were just having coffee before Emma had to go off to work, and Ruby would take over on domestic duty. “Do you think that’s a bad thing?” Ruby finally asks, carefully, as if she’s afraid she’ll upset Emma, who doesn’t know whether she should be upset or not.

And now it’s Emma’s turn to say, “I don’t know.”

 

“I think this is the one,” the Blue Fairy announces. This is their fifth concoction, and seven months have passed since they first tried. It’s been nearly a year since Gina had first appeared. Emma never expected it to go on this long, but she loved how Gina’s hair had grown back out, down past her shoulders again. She loved watching Gina grow, teaching her to read, and play. She loved watching the girl grow up, but she still wanted a daughter of her own.

“You said that about the last one,” Emma reminds her, reluctant to wake Gina up from where she had collapsed on the couch, exhausted after a day of playing in the light snowfall outside.

“I’m confident,” Blue says earnestly, and Emma pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Okay,” she says, shaking Gina awake.

“No,” the little girl whines. “No more icky shiny drinks.” She had started complaining about how Blue’s potions tasted after the second concoction.

“Gina, that’s not how we talk to guests,” Emma whispers, balancing the girl on her hip, leaning into her ear.

“Sorry Miss Blue,” the grouchy toddler mumbles, rubbing her eye.

“I understand, Gina. But I really do think this will be the last one. Do you believe me?” she asks, smiling sweetly. Gina nods. “Good. Because fairy magic runs on belief. So, I need you to believe before you drink this, okay? And I need you to believe, Emma,” she adds. Emma raises one eyebrow.

“Me? I’m not the one drinking it,” she scoffs.

“Disbelief taints the purity of the magic,” Blue scolds.

“Emma!” Gina whines. “Believe!” she orders, taking the cup from Blue. Emma puts her on the ground, but Gina just watches her. “You have to believe!” she scolds Emma, drawing out the vowels and stomping her little foot. It’s hard to take her seriously, cheeks still flushed from cold, hair rumpled from sleep. But Emma smiles at her. She closes her eyes for a moment and clenches her fist, screwing up her face in mock concentration.

“I believe,” she says earnestly, and opens her eyes when she hears Gina giggling and clapping.

“Now I can drink,” she smiles, throwing back the cup, drinking the entire thing in one gulp, the shiny silver liquid dribbling down her chin. It happened quickly.

The air around Gina seemed to grow thicker, silver mist coating the girl. Emma couldn’t see through the mist, but suddenly, Gina wasn’t three feet tall anymore. She nearly doubled in size, and her hair shrank back into her head, just a bit. Her features spread and smoothed out, regaining the elegance of adulthood. By the power and grace of magic, her clothes grew with her. When the mist clears, Emma is gaping at a full grown, adult Regina in pink pajamas.

“Regina,” Emma whimpers, both grateful to have her friend back, and horribly disappointed at the loss of the little girl. She feels ridiculous for crying, but she is going to miss Gina. “I m-missed you,” she sobs. 

“She’s a little out of it,” Blue explains as Regina blinks sleepily, staring at her hands, then her pajamas.

“What the hell am I wearing?” she growls, still a little groggy. With a wave of her hands, she’s back in her traditional stylish pantsuits. She takes a moment to breathe, clearing her head before opening her eyes to look curiously at Emma. “Why are you crying?”

“You… You don’t remember?” Emma whimpers, her voice breaking.

“I… Emma… What’s…?” Regina trails off, fingers pressed to her temples as if she were warding off a headache.

“Don’t overwhelm her. It’s confusing,” Blue scolds the still-sobbing Emma. She turns to Regina. “After your sister’s time portal closed, the remaining temporal energy was causing a rip in the space-time continuum. The Dark One took that energy and put it into you, turning you into a toddler. We’ve been trying to reverse the magic for nearly a year now, and Emma’s been taking care of you,” she explains bluntly. Regina cants her head to the side.

“That’s… No, that was just… a dream. I had a fever, mother said,” she mumbles nervously, hands clenched into fists now. “That wasn’t real… Was it?” she finishes uncertainly.

“It wasn’t,” Emma confirms, managing to get her sobbing down to an occasional sniffle and a hiccup.

“Knew it was too lucid to be a fever dream,” Regina mumbles, more to herself than anything else. “But you’re still crying,” Regina points to Emma.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Emma says simply, biting her lip to keep in the sob that’s building.

“Emma,” Regina says, running a hand over Emma’s cheek. Immediately, Emma collapses into her arms.

“I-I’m glad you’re b-back, R-Regina,” she sobs. “But I m-miss  _ G-Gina _ !”

“I know, I’m sure you do,” Regina whispers soothingly, rubbing circles into her back. “It’s okay, I get it. You’re okay.” After a while, the Blue Fairy sees herself out, and Emma manages to calm down.

“You know, it used to be me comforting you,” Emma chuckles wetly, pulling away from Regina. 

“You were pretty good at it,” Regina admits. “The whole… ‘taking-care-of-me’ thing.”

“So, you remember?” Emma asks, a little embarrassed. As time had gone on, Emma really had started to miss Regina as she was now. She’d asked Ruby, and her parents to take care of her some nights because she couldn’t handle the reminder that Regina was so close, physically, but so far in other senses. Emma had finally been forced to confront that the reason she missed Regina so much had been because she was in love with her. It was a little hard for her to realize she was in love with someone who was currently a toddler, so her parents had taken on the parental role. Emma had become more like a babysitter, or the cool aunt- still a little creepy, if you asked her- so that she could reconcile her romantic feelings.

“A little. It’s kind of fuzzy. And it’s weird. It feels like it happened years ago, you know?” Regina sighs, moving to sit on the couch. Emma follows, folding her legs underneath her, leaning into Regina’s side.

“You were a cute little kid,” Emma mumbles sleepily.

“I’m even cuter now,” Regina smirks, stifling her own yawn- being magically re-aged is exhausting, after all. Emma pauses, wondering if Regina realizes what she’s saying. 

“Yeah, you are,” Emma smiles. Regina closes her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly, likely sleeping off the magic. Emma just curls into her, wondering what to do. She spent a few months pining after Regina, and now that she’s back, Emma doesn’t know how to proceed. Does she make a move? Does she wait? How long should she wait? What if Regina doesn’t even want to be with her? Then what happens?

_ No _ , Emma thinks. She has to shut her brain down, stop over thinking before she drives herself crazy. She closes her eyes, nestles closer into Regina’s side, and lets herself fall asleep. She’ll sort everything else out (her feelings for Regina, her desire for another child, etc)  _ later _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! And that's the end! I'm gonna be focusing on school work for a while (because I can't flunk out when I'm this close). I'll still be posting, just not as often, and not as regular. All one-shots and prompts are kind of on a backburner for now, so I am sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> So, anyone have any situations they'd like to see? Wanna see Emma try and take Regina to go sledding? Want her to try and deal with a full on tantrum? Give me suggestions!
> 
> Also, give me lullabies for her to sing... Please?
> 
> And reviews?


End file.
